3 ms·
I think a lot of this confusion comes from what appears to be a mismatch between how he was when he was up and coming, vs. how he was in his later time as presi
by danielrm26 13y ago
I think a lot of this confusion comes from what appears to be a mismatch between how he was when he was up and coming, vs. how he was in his later time as president.
If you watch his older speeches and ad-hoc interactions, he was extremely sharp. And if you watch him later he seemed easily confused and steeped in dogma.
I almost feel like he was poisoned, or beaten down, by the pressure of the presidency and the various narratives from Rove, Cheney, etc.
Either way, there's likely truth to both accounts--that he is both much brighter than people think he is, and that he often acted like a complete idiot.
- dmlorenzetti 13y agoI read an analysis somewhere that claimed this degeneration was a symptom of alcohol and drug use in his early years. However, that analysis was on a partisan website, and I took it with a big grain of salt. The main thing that struck me about the analysis was that it showed some of his earlier speeches, which I had never seen before, and he did indeed come across like a completely different person.